Introduction
Chariho Middle school is a part of the Chariho Regional School District. This district is made up of three towns, Charlestown, Richmond, and Hopkinton. The district has four elementary school and then all towns come together for grades 5 or 6-12. The School is located in Wood River Junction, RI (455B Switch Road, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island 02894. (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm)This is approximately in the center of Chariho. The campus is surrounded by turf fields. The middle school is directly behind the high school on the same campus. On top of the schools both being on this campus, there are also many playing, practicing fields, tennis courts, track, scoreboards, lights, vending machines, and parking lots. After school activities will immediately follow. Late bus transportation is provided for your child on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The population of the school is about 12,00 students, mostly white with a small native American population and very small and limited other race groups.
The main points that i will touch on is the community background, district summary, and the school analysis. This information will inform new teachers and students who are entering the school for the first time, or ones that are trying to choose a school that they would like to attend or teach at.
Community Background
Chariho Middle School is located in Wood River Junction RI. It is surrounded by turf. There is a neighborhood and a few driveways within a mile radius of the school. Since the district is so big there are many different parts to the community. There is no general socioeconomic background, because the district is so large, there are many types of communities in it. The district is rural, most houses have driveways and yards. However, the district has a variety of students from different backgrounds because of the fact that the district goes from the coast of the beach, to duplex’s in Alton, to farms in Kingston. The Chariho community is made up of mostly Caucasian/white race . The chart below shows the different race in each town of Chariho, in Rhode Island and the USA for the US census bureau (US Census Bureau).
Charlestown
Hopkinton
Richmond
Rhode Island
USA
White
96.3
96.8
97
85
75.1
Black/ African Americans
0.4
0.6
0.4
4.5
12.3
Asian
0.6
0.4
0.4
2.3
3.6
Hispanic
1.1
1.1
1.2
8.7
12.5
From the Chart above you can see that most of the people that live in Chariho are White, however there are a few other races. The community is very involved, they annually hold a recreational soccer league, baseball league, softball league, it also has some competitive teams. Most of the competivtive teamrs are for the older students, from like 7th grade all the way throught high school. This keeps the students and children in the community busy and active. Also, by have this kind of activity opption it lets the children get to know each other better and also keeps them at out trouble, or trys to.
District Summary
Chariho Middle school is a part of the Chariho Regional School District. This district is made up of three towns, Charlestown (CHA), Richmond (RI), and Hopkinton (HO). The name comes from the first two or three letters of each town as stated after each town in the sentence above. The district has four elementary school and they all come together for grades 5 or 6-12. It takes about a half hour to drive through Chariho, therefore, the majority of students cannot walk or bike. However, there are a few that live close enought that they are able to walk. There are school busses SIC that are supplied for the kids to get to and from school. Some parents do not feel safe with their children riding the bus with high school so they will bring their child to school. There is also a late bus for any child who has to stay after school. Late bus transportation is provided for your child on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Students may remain after the official school day to participate in extra curricular activities, to gain extra help in academic areas, or to attend detention. (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm) The school offers a vo-tech school, it is located next to the high school, in front of the middle school. This vocational school, however, is only available for students in high school. The students do not need to live in Chariho to attend the school if their town does not offer the same vocational opportunities. To even get considered for getting a job each teacher has to have passed the Rhode Island State teacher certification, have a full background check and fill out a very lengthy and in-depth application. If the application presents this person is a positive way, an interview will follow. Chariho Middle School does not have a huge population of special education students, however, there is a handful. The school provides mini busses that show up a little before the other buses and picks the students up a little before the other kids leave. There are four special education teachers for the special education class. The tables below show the number of per-pupil expenditures including other commitments in the different teaching areas an the amount of money Chariho Middle School gets in teach area.
Indicator
Chariho/Number of Students
RI
General Education
3,691
$9,220
Title I
2,376
$536
Special Education
493
$16,382
Career & Technical Education
14
$4,249
English Language Learners
119
$7,931
The table below shows where the money comes from to give the students the best education possible to all of its students.
Revenue/Funding
Chariho
RI
Local
68%- $36.8 M
55% -$1.1 B
State
28% - 14.8 M
37% - $749.8 M
Federal
4% - 2.8 M
7% - $145.6 M
For about the past five years Charlestown has wanted to pull out of the Chariho District and every time the voting has happened it has been denied. There are a number of reason why Charlestowns to pull out, but the number one is that the older gerenation feels that they are paying to much money into the district when they do not have any children attending any of the schools. They feel that their taxes will be lowered if they pull out.
School Analysis
The mission for Chariho Middle School is CMS will provide an education that supports the intellectual, social, emotional and physical needs of all students in a safe environment. Students will learn the skills necessary to perform at highly proficient levels on assessments that are comprehensive, appropriate and based on national and state standards. All students will have access to support, flexibility, and alternatives as needed to ensure success. (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/mission.htm) Chariho Middle school focus’ on getting the child to make a smooth transition from elementary school to middle school. The goals following this focus include:
· An academically challenging core curriculum
· The discovery of interrelationships among subject areas
· Exploratory opportunities which widen a student's personal and vocational interests
· Organizational and study skills
· The use of technology as a life-long tool
· Expert teaching of young adolescents
· Shared decision making within the CMS community
· Each student's unique learning style and personality
· Respect and responsibility for the entire CMS community
· Parental and community involvement in a student's education
(http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/mission.htm) These are the aspects that are the most important. For Chariho Middle School to be working constantly on making these core aspects the best they can be the school is improving more and more. Chariho Middle School works hard to make the student/teacher ratio as small as possible. In the younger classes (grades 5 and 6) CMS tries to keep the teacher to student ratio smaller, around 20 kids to a classroom. In the higher grades, the classes can get a little bigger to about 25 students per teacher. Many classrooms are given teachers assistants, especially the classes that have students who have a learning or behavioral disorder. Many teachers throughout the year also have student teachers from the University of Rhode Island that come in to teach for a semester, so there is often two teachers in a room. The classes in the middle school are set up as “teams” each team has 3-5 teachers and that group of 100 kids on each team is together all year, having all different classes but the same group and same teachers. This gives students the opportunity to meet new students, without being overwhelmed by not knowing any of them whatsoever. Some teams are “two year teams” where the students will be in classes with the same teachers and students for two years. This can be very beneficial when it comes to routine and comfort. This is also good for students that do not like change and have problems with change. It gives them more of an option to learn and not worry about know anyone or how the teacher is going to grade them. “The Chariho Middle School divides its students into smaller academic groups. The teams of teachers are designed to plan and develop programs for their students. Teaming provides a better chance for teachers and students to get to know each other. Teaming integrates learning and reduces isolated learning of subject content. The concept of looping, or two year teaming, is an option at Chariho Middle School” (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm).
Chariho Middle School has always been an active part of trying to get parent involvement up to a maximum. Because it is a public school there is only so much the school can ask, and its up to the parents, however, parent/teacher conferences are encouraged to parents. The school does their best to get the parents to come by canceling school for a day for the students so the teachers stay from morning to night to accommodate any schedule. Also, parents are sent SALT surveys from the school, which is an anonymous bunch of questions that just gives the district an idea of what’s going on with the parents around the district. They also give the studnets in the district the opportunity to take one. The student ones contain questions about school work, teaching styles, self esteem, feeling safe in school, drugs, drinking and much more. This is another way to get parents involved, and get data about the community of the Chariho district. The school always notify the parents whenever any kind of disciplinary referral is given, for any reason (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm). Parents today are not as involed with thier children school as in past years, but Chariho Middle School is trying thier best to get them as involed as they can.
Feeling safe at a school is the most assuring thing to a parent, and the proper thing for a school. Being the youngest kid in the school should make one more nervous, however, even then, the kids feel safe. CMS pays very close attention to the policy on bulling. The handbook immediately states their policy on bulling and includes further information about “1. Prohibition against Harassment, Intimidation or Bullying: 3. At School 4. Reporting Harassment, Intimidation or Bullying: 5. Investigation of Harassment, Intimidation or Bullying: 6. Prohibition against Retaliation: 7. Instruction in the Prevention of Harassment, Intimidation or Bullying: (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm). The principal of each building shall ensure that students, and employees and volunteers who may have significant contact with pupils, are given instruction regarding this policy against harassment, intimidation or bullying. This instruction shall include methods of discouraging and preventing this type of behavior, the procedure to file a complaint, and the disciplinary action that may be taken against those who commit acts in violation of this policy. “(http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm)
The school tries to do everything they can to keep the children safe. On top of worrying about the upperclassmen in the middle school, they also have to worry about the high school students. The schools are on the same campus, and where they eighth graders are covered in the behavior code, the high school kids are not. This is only an issue at the buses, it is the only place where a middle school kid and high school kid should see each other. To prevent any problems happening, there are plenty of aids, deans etc standing around at the busses, also the middle school gets out 5 min earlier than the high school, so if a child is really worried, they can just go straight to their bus upon dismissal.
When we look at schools, academics is the most important part. State testing is a way to look at the school, and the schools ability and compare it to schools around it, and more importantly the state. Below are the state test scores that Chariho Middle School received on state testing compared to the state average. In reading: Basic Understanding CMS was 75% at or above the averages, and the state was at 58%. Reading: Analysis and Interpretation CMS scored 36% at or above the state average, and the state scored 31%. On the writing: conventions CMS scored 53%, the state scored 49%. Writing: effectiveness CMS scored 86% and the state scored 68%. On the math testing for skills and concepts CMS scored 79% and the state scored 57%. The math concepts testing CMS scored 44% and the state scored 27%. Lastly, on the math: problem solving CMS scored 56% and the state scored 32% (www.cahriho.k12.ri.us/cms/news.html). This shows that Chariho scored better than the average of the state.
Involvement is something that many schools do not include until high school. However, many kids get to high school where they should be involved and are a little intimidated by this. Chariho Middle School does a good job preparing the kids for this by having enough clubs, sports and programs that allow the students who would like to be involved get involved. The in school programs include things such as Natural Helpers, which is a club of upperclassmen that learn about smoking and drinking and bad things like that, and they go around to all the underclassmen rooms and talk to the kids about it. There is also peer mentoring, yearbook, class council, kids grow, recycling etc. There are also a few sports for kids in grades 6-8 (so that no 5th grader will run the risk of being around 8th graders because that is avoided as much as possible) these sports include basketball, dance team, track and cross country. "The Chariho Regional School District is an educational institution with the primary function of educating students. Athletics, as well as other extra curricular activities, are of a secondary nature when it comes to the academic standards we wish to instill in our students. Student-athletes and students wishing to participate in other extra curricular activities as listed below*, must meet the following criteria: *A student must maintain a minimum overall average of 70 in major subjects and no more than one failure in a major subject." (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm). The school recognizes that sports come second to schoolwork and they strive to make the kids understand that also.
Conclusion
Chariho Middle School is a 4-year district middle school. The school seems very together and on the right track to leading kids into their further education. The district, community, and school itself are all safe environments. There is not one school at there that is perfect but Chariho Middle School does it best to give it students the best education that it possibale can. Chariho Middle School is a good school for someone that is just getting starting as a teacher or has just moved to the district and wants to send their child there. Chariho Middle School is a school that will welcome you with open arms and do its best to give you the best information to get you though school.
Chariho Middle School
IntroductionChariho Middle school is a part of the Chariho Regional School District. This district is made up of three towns, Charlestown, Richmond, and Hopkinton. The district has four elementary school and then all towns come together for grades 5 or 6-12. The School is located in Wood River Junction, RI (455B Switch Road, Wood River Junction, Rhode Island 02894. (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm)This is approximately in the center of Chariho. The campus is surrounded by turf fields. The middle school is directly behind the high school on the same campus. On top of the schools both being on this campus, there are also many playing, practicing fields, tennis courts, track, scoreboards, lights, vending machines, and parking lots. After school activities will immediately follow. Late bus transportation is provided for your child on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The population of the school is about 12,00 students, mostly white with a small native American population and very small and limited other race groups.
The main points that i will touch on is the community background, district summary, and the school analysis. This information will inform new teachers and students who are entering the school for the first time, or ones that are trying to choose a school that they would like to attend or teach at.
Community Background
Chariho Middle School is located in Wood River Junction RI. It is surrounded by turf. There is a neighborhood and a few driveways within a mile radius of the school. Since the district is so big there are many different parts to the community. There is no general socioeconomic background, because the district is so large, there are many types of communities in it. The district is rural, most houses have driveways and yards. However, the district has a variety of students from different backgrounds because of the fact that the district goes from the coast of the beach, to duplex’s in Alton, to farms in Kingston. The Chariho community is made up of mostly Caucasian/white race . The chart below shows the different race in each town of Chariho, in Rhode Island and the USA for the US census bureau (US Census Bureau).
From the Chart above you can see that most of the people that live in Chariho are White, however there are a few other races. The community is very involved, they annually hold a recreational soccer league, baseball league, softball league, it also has some competitive teams. Most of the competivtive teamrs are for the older students, from like 7th grade all the way throught high school. This keeps the students and children in the community busy and active. Also, by have this kind of activity opption it lets the children get to know each other better and also keeps them at out trouble, or trys to.
District Summary
Chariho Middle school is a part of the Chariho Regional School District. This district is made up of three towns, Charlestown (CHA), Richmond (RI), and Hopkinton (HO). The name comes from the first two or three letters of each town as stated after each town in the sentence above. The district has four elementary school and they all come together for grades 5 or 6-12. It takes about a half hour to drive through Chariho, therefore, the majority of students cannot walk or bike. However, there are a few that live close enought that they are able to walk. There are school busses SIC that are supplied for the kids to get to and from school. Some parents do not feel safe with their children riding the bus with high school so they will bring their child to school. There is also a late bus for any child who has to stay after school. Late bus transportation is provided for your child on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Students may remain after the official school day to participate in extra curricular activities, to gain extra help in academic areas, or to attend detention. (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm) The school offers a vo-tech school, it is located next to the high school, in front of the middle school. This vocational school, however, is only available for students in high school. The students do not need to live in Chariho to attend the school if their town does not offer the same vocational opportunities. To even get considered for getting a job each teacher has to have passed the Rhode Island State teacher certification, have a full background check and fill out a very lengthy and in-depth application. If the application presents this person is a positive way, an interview will follow. Chariho Middle School does not have a huge population of special education students, however, there is a handful. The school provides mini busses that show up a little before the other buses and picks the students up a little before the other kids leave. There are four special education teachers for the special education class. The tables below show the number of per-pupil expenditures including other commitments in the different teaching areas an the amount of money Chariho Middle School gets in teach area.
The table below shows where the money comes from to give the students the best education possible to all of its students.
For about the past five years Charlestown has wanted to pull out of the Chariho District and every time the voting has happened it has been denied. There are a number of reason why Charlestowns to pull out, but the number one is that the older gerenation feels that they are paying to much money into the district when they do not have any children attending any of the schools. They feel that their taxes will be lowered if they pull out.
School Analysis
The mission for Chariho Middle School is CMS will provide an education that supports the intellectual, social, emotional and physical needs of all students in a safe environment. Students will learn the skills necessary to perform at highly proficient levels on assessments that are comprehensive, appropriate and based on national and state standards. All students will have access to support, flexibility, and alternatives as needed to ensure success. (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/mission.htm) Chariho Middle school focus’ on getting the child to make a smooth transition from elementary school to middle school. The goals following this focus include:
· An academically challenging core curriculum
· The discovery of interrelationships among subject areas
· Exploratory opportunities which widen a student's personal and vocational interests
· Organizational and study skills
· The use of technology as a life-long tool
· Expert teaching of young adolescents
· Shared decision making within the CMS community
· Each student's unique learning style and personality
· Respect and responsibility for the entire CMS community
· Parental and community involvement in a student's education
(http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/mission.htm) These are the aspects that are the most important. For Chariho Middle School to be working constantly on making these core aspects the best they can be the school is improving more and more. Chariho Middle School works hard to make the student/teacher ratio as small as possible. In the younger classes (grades 5 and 6) CMS tries to keep the teacher to student ratio smaller, around 20 kids to a classroom. In the higher grades, the classes can get a little bigger to about 25 students per teacher. Many classrooms are given teachers assistants, especially the classes that have students who have a learning or behavioral disorder. Many teachers throughout the year also have student teachers from the University of Rhode Island that come in to teach for a semester, so there is often two teachers in a room. The classes in the middle school are set up as “teams” each team has 3-5 teachers and that group of 100 kids on each team is together all year, having all different classes but the same group and same teachers. This gives students the opportunity to meet new students, without being overwhelmed by not knowing any of them whatsoever. Some teams are “two year teams” where the students will be in classes with the same teachers and students for two years. This can be very beneficial when it comes to routine and comfort. This is also good for students that do not like change and have problems with change. It gives them more of an option to learn and not worry about know anyone or how the teacher is going to grade them. “The Chariho Middle School divides its students into smaller academic groups. The teams of teachers are designed to plan and develop programs for their students. Teaming provides a better chance for teachers and students to get to know each other. Teaming integrates learning and reduces isolated learning of subject content. The concept of looping, or two year teaming, is an option at Chariho Middle School” (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm).
Chariho Middle School has always been an active part of trying to get parent involvement up to a maximum. Because it is a public school there is only so much the school can ask, and its up to the parents, however, parent/teacher conferences are encouraged to parents. The school does their best to get the parents to come by canceling school for a day for the students so the teachers stay from morning to night to accommodate any schedule. Also, parents are sent SALT surveys from the school, which is an anonymous bunch of questions that just gives the district an idea of what’s going on with the parents around the district. They also give the studnets in the district the opportunity to take one. The student ones contain questions about school work, teaching styles, self esteem, feeling safe in school, drugs, drinking and much more. This is another way to get parents involved, and get data about the community of the Chariho district. The school always notify the parents whenever any kind of disciplinary referral is given, for any reason (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm). Parents today are not as involed with thier children school as in past years, but Chariho Middle School is trying thier best to get them as involed as they can.
Feeling safe at a school is the most assuring thing to a parent, and the proper thing for a school. Being the youngest kid in the school should make one more nervous, however, even then, the kids feel safe. CMS pays very close attention to the policy on bulling. The handbook immediately states their policy on bulling and includes further information about “1. Prohibition against Harassment, Intimidation or Bullying: 3. At School 4. Reporting Harassment, Intimidation or Bullying: 5. Investigation of Harassment, Intimidation or Bullying: 6. Prohibition against Retaliation: 7. Instruction in the Prevention of Harassment, Intimidation or Bullying: (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm). The principal of each building shall ensure that students, and employees and volunteers who may have significant contact with pupils, are given instruction regarding this policy against harassment, intimidation or bullying. This instruction shall include methods of discouraging and preventing this type of behavior, the procedure to file a complaint, and the disciplinary action that may be taken against those who commit acts in violation of this policy. “(http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm)
The school tries to do everything they can to keep the children safe. On top of worrying about the upperclassmen in the middle school, they also have to worry about the high school students. The schools are on the same campus, and where they eighth graders are covered in the behavior code, the high school kids are not. This is only an issue at the buses, it is the only place where a middle school kid and high school kid should see each other. To prevent any problems happening, there are plenty of aids, deans etc standing around at the busses, also the middle school gets out 5 min earlier than the high school, so if a child is really worried, they can just go straight to their bus upon dismissal.
When we look at schools, academics is the most important part. State testing is a way to look at the school, and the schools ability and compare it to schools around it, and more importantly the state. Below are the state test scores that Chariho Middle School received on state testing compared to the state average. In reading: Basic Understanding CMS was 75% at or above the averages, and the state was at 58%. Reading: Analysis and Interpretation CMS scored 36% at or above the state average, and the state scored 31%. On the writing: conventions CMS scored 53%, the state scored 49%. Writing: effectiveness CMS scored 86% and the state scored 68%. On the math testing for skills and concepts CMS scored 79% and the state scored 57%. The math concepts testing CMS scored 44% and the state scored 27%. Lastly, on the math: problem solving CMS scored 56% and the state scored 32% (www.cahriho.k12.ri.us/cms/news.html). This shows that Chariho scored better than the average of the state.
Involvement is something that many schools do not include until high school. However, many kids get to high school where they should be involved and are a little intimidated by this. Chariho Middle School does a good job preparing the kids for this by having enough clubs, sports and programs that allow the students who would like to be involved get involved. The in school programs include things such as Natural Helpers, which is a club of upperclassmen that learn about smoking and drinking and bad things like that, and they go around to all the underclassmen rooms and talk to the kids about it. There is also peer mentoring, yearbook, class council, kids grow, recycling etc. There are also a few sports for kids in grades 6-8 (so that no 5th grader will run the risk of being around 8th graders because that is avoided as much as possible) these sports include basketball, dance team, track and cross country. "The Chariho Regional School District is an educational institution with the primary function of educating students. Athletics, as well as other extra curricular activities, are of a secondary nature when it comes to the academic standards we wish to instill in our students. Student-athletes and students wishing to participate in other extra curricular activities as listed below*, must meet the following criteria: *A student must maintain a minimum overall average of 70 in major subjects and no more than one failure in a major subject." (http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm). The school recognizes that sports come second to schoolwork and they strive to make the kids understand that also.
Conclusion
Chariho Middle School is a 4-year district middle school. The school seems very together and on the right track to leading kids into their further education. The district, community, and school itself are all safe environments. There is not one school at there that is perfect but Chariho Middle School does it best to give it students the best education that it possibale can. Chariho Middle School is a good school for someone that is just getting starting as a teacher or has just moved to the district and wants to send their child there. Chariho Middle School is a school that will welcome you with open arms and do its best to give you the best information to get you though school.
References
www.cahriho.k12.ri.us/cms/news.html
http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/aboutschool.htm
http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/principa.htm
http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/cms/mission.htm
Rhode Island US Census Bureau
Charlestown town Census
Hopkinton town Census
Richmond town Census